Bad Dreams
by Clairsentient
Summary: What happens when all of your dreams come true? Is it a nightmare or a fairytale? Contains some fluff between Naru and Mai, don't read if you get scared easy.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt

Prologue

The cold night air rushed past her as she ran from what had been a simple nightmare just minutes before. A sharp object flew through the space beside her head, making the air it had passed through move in a small breeze against her neck, and cutting through her hair slightly.

_No! _She thought_, the spell wasn't supposed to work this way! What have I done?_Another object whizzed through the air beside her head and lodged itself in a tree, and as she passed by it, she saw it was a knife. With wicked curves, and a blade that was at least six inches long, not to mention a worn, leather wrapped handle, it could have easily cut through her thin nightclothes, especially considering her attackers aim.

_He's toying with me, _she realized. Just then, she tripped over a rock and went tumbling head first down the slope that the mansion she lived in had been built near. She hadn't thought she had run so far away from the estate.

She also hadn't thought that after she was married the spell would still be active. All she had wanted was for her dreams to come true, for her to marry the man she had fallen so desperately in love with. But all it took was one small nightmare and all of it was ruined.

As she reached the bottom of the long slope, her head connected with a large rock. When she finally rolled to a stop, she reached up and a touched particularly painful spot on her head. Her hand came away red with her own blood.

As she stared at her hand in the semidarkness of pre-dawn, she heard the sounds of her lover stumbling down the hill after her, though it was muffled as if she was submerged under water.

The sounds stopped and a strong hand propped her head up, since she could no longer hold it up on her own. _I'm dying, _she thought, _no, I don't want to die; I just got my dream…_

The world was starting to fade away as the seconds passed by, yet she could clearly see the startling blue of her new husband's eyes as he slit her throat.

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This is my first story that I actually have confidence in, i hope you enjoy it and please review!


	2. Case

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, cause if I did, Naru and Mai would already be together, though it would probably be really confusing... anyway, I don't own it.

_MAI'S POV-_

Today began as any normal day would, I guess. The second I walked into the SPR office, I heard the voice of my narcissistic boss, Shibuya Kazuya, or Naru as I had nicknamed him when I first met him for his rude and egotistic behavior, calling out two words.

"Mai, tea." Ugh, he really got on my nerves sometimes. "Sure thing boss, coming right up." I yelled back at him, my voice dripping with fake sugary sweetness. Maybe, just maybe, I'd add some kind of spicy seasoning from the small spice rack in the kitchenette.

I started towards the small room and saw his head poking out from behind his office door. He eyed me warily, and said, "You had better not put anything in it. I'll have you know that if you do, you will the one drinking it."

I could feel my face redden, from annoyance that he would think that, and from embarrassment form the fact that he might be able to read my thoughts, therefore knowing about the enormous crush I had on him and the fact that I have had it ever since we first met.

I glared at him, giving him the 'death look' that I had learned from him by watching him make it at people who got on his nerves, or insulted his employees and coworkers. _Was it my imagination, or did he just shrink back a little?_ I thought, thoroughly amused.

It must have just been my mind playing tricks on me, because he immediately became straight backed and glared back. They continued this for several minutes, until the sound of someone clearing their throat came form down the hall.

I turned to find Lin-san peering out of his office at the two of us, no emotion on his face as usual. I have always felt slightly intimidated by the man, mostly because at well over six foot tall, he towers over me, and not only that, but he's so quiet, it's hard to tell whether he's contemplating smacking some sense into you (though I doubt Lin-san would actually do something like that without a very good reason), or whether he was just ignoring you completely.

Embarrassed once again, I turned away from Naru all together. "Sorry for disturbing you, Lin-san." With those words, I turned and scurried into the kitchen, closing the door as softly as I could behind me.

Listening closely to sounds out in the hall, I heard both men pause for a couple seconds more, and then both doors clicked shut, one slightly softer then the other. Sighing, I turned and prepared the tea, not noticing that the door behind me was opening slowly.

Humming quietly to myself, I turned around to find Naru leaning against the door frame. Startled, I nearly jumped out of my skin and slopped a bit of very hot tea onto my hand in the process. Hissing in pain, I quickly set the cup down and stood there holding my hand, and waiting for the pain to pass. I heard a sigh, and suddenly Naru was holding my hands in his own and guiding me over to the sink. My face flushed a deep red color as I felt his chest against my back as he held my hands under the cold tap.

"Idiot." he muttered under his breath. Instantly I felt my temper rising. And here I thought he was even being caring for once, but no, he just had to ruin it by calling me names again. Forgetting my current position in his arms, I twisted around so I could glare at him. We were now face to face, no more than six inches apart. He didn't even bother to take his arms from around me; instead, he just raised an eyebrow, which had to be the most emotion I'd seen on his face so far today.

_NARU'S POV-_

_What on earth is she doing?_ That was the first thought that came to my mind as she turned in my arms to face me. The second thought was how nice her hair smelled from this close, like strawberries in the summer. She was glaring at me now, or at least doing her best to glare at me, seeing how we were both so close to each other. Unsure of what to do, I merely stood there with my arms around her, staring back at her expressionlessly.

_I was simply trying to help her, _he thought, _I can't help that she acts like an idiot and hurts herself like this. She should be grateful I didn't just leave here standing there with her hands scalded. But I do hate to see her in pain… _I raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

However, instead of having the desired effect of making her talk to me, the gesture seemed to infuriate the already flustered girl even more. Mai's glare deepened as she held my gaze, almost not bothering to blink. _This girl continues to amaze me more and more every day._ Of course I would never say that out loud to anybody, my pride is too great for it to allow me to do that.

I distantly heard the office door open, but I knew that if I looked away now, I would lose this battle, so I ignored it. That is, until the kitchen door swung open, hitting my back and pushing me towards the shocked girl in front of me. Our faces were now centimeters apart, and though I didn't show it, I was very aware of the fact that her curves were pressed against by body.

I quickly jumped away from her and backed up until I bumped into Takigawa-san, who was the one who had opened the door in the first place. I gave him my iciest glare and swept out of the room, not bothering to look back.

_GENERAL POV-_

The air in the SPR office exploded with sound. "Naru! What the hell are you doing?" shouted Mai. She had him backing up out of the hallway, with a very amused Houshou Takigawa following close behind. It must have been very funny indeed to the older, mischievous man, to see the six foot, seventeen year old boy nearly cowering before a furious girl of fifteen, who was around five foot six. Mai's chocolate brown eyes blazed with anger as she advanced on Naru, as his back bumped against the wall.

"You always have to call me some kind of name, don't you?" she yelled. She poked him in the chest as she spoke, accentuating her words. She was about to advance further, but Naru slipped away and nearly ran for his office, locking the door behind him. Lin walked out of his office, sighed, and went to the kitchen to bring the tea that had been forgotten on the counter to his young boss before the brunette that stood fuming in the front room had a chance to poison it with something.

He knocked lightly on the door and announced his presence to Naru. The door was swiftly unlocked and the young man peered into the hallway, obviously looking to see if whether an angry Mai was waiting to hit him outside the door. She wasn't, so he let Lin inside and shut the door behind him.

"What did you do to make her angry?" Lin wanted to know. The tall man wasn't one for words, so that was probably the longest sentence he would say all day.

Naru glared at the older man, not wanting to recount what had happened in the kitchen. Lin sighed, put the still steaming cup on his boss's desk, and left the room. After that there was blissful silence in the office.

In the main room however, Houshou, otherwise known as Bou-san, was still cracking up laughing and wiping his eyes from the tears that came along with. "That just made my day. I've never seen Naru-chan run like that before, especially from a little girl!" he crowed. Mai stepped on his foot hard, and it was especially painful because her shoes had a bit of heel on them.

"Sorry Mai, no offence meant, but that has to have been the funniest thing I've seen all week." She merely huffed and walked to her desk. "Glad our fights amuse you." She sat down briskly and started filing papers. Bou-san sat, or rather lounged, on one of the sofas that were in the middle of the office.

Just then, the door swung open to reveal a well groomed man in a business suit. Not wasting any time with formalities, he walked up to Mai and asked if Naru was there. Of course he didn't use those exact words; it was more like, "Is Shibuya-san here? I have a case that may interest him greatly, and we desperately need his assistance."

She nodded slightly, got up, and walked to her boss's office. She knocked a couple times, perhaps maybe to hard, and said, "Naru, there's a client here to see you." With that, she walked back to her desk and told the man that Shibuya-san would be there momentarily.

_NARU'S POV- _

The first impression that I got of the man was that of a crisp, clean snob. The way he held himself showed that much, at the very least. I motioned for him to sit with my hand while seating myself in an armchair. "Mai, tea." Were the words that came out of my mouth as I sat.

"You would be Shibuya-san I presume? You seem a little young to be running your own business, but I suppose it can't be helped." The man sat and put the briefcase he was carrying with him on the table before opening it. I didn't like this man one bit, but I certainly didn't let it show on my face. Just then, Mai came in with two cups of steaming tea in her hands. She handed one to me, not looking at me of course, and set the other in front of the man, who had yet to introduce himself.

"Please forgive me for being so rude. My name is Hitari Osaka. I am here on behalf of a very important client of mine who wishes you to take the case that we are offering you." I felt my eyebrows rise.

"And just who is this client? If we are going to take this case, I need more information." I sat up as straight as I could, to show him that meant business. I picked up my small black record book off of the end table that was off to my left. "Mai, bring Lin." I ordered. She huffed a little, but did as she was told.

_MAI'S POV-_

As I walked towards the tall China-man's office, I couldn't help but be annoyed by Naru's tone of voice. He could try to be a little bit nicer sometimes. And the way he was acting, as if the episode in the kitchen had never happened, it really ticked me off. _Our faces were so close though._ I couldn't stop the thought from going through my head. Suddenly the thought from earlier about Naru being able to read minds popped into my head. As I felt my face start to burn red with embarrassment, I reached the door to Lin-san's office. I knocked quietly and said, "Lin-san? Naru would like you to be in the main room for a minute or two. There's a client."

The door opened and the tall man stepped out. Looking down at me, he said, "Don't worry about Naru. He isn't even sure what he really wants." Cryptic, as always. I nodded and he continued down the hall, his laptop held under one arm.

When I entered the room again, after composing myself of course, I saw that Bou-san was still in the room, hunched against the wall and trying not to be noticed. I walked over as quietly as I could, accidentally tripping over my own feet as I went, and dragged him into the kitchen, where he relaxed and leaned against the counter.

"I hate business types. Thanks Mai." He closed his eyes and listened to the men talking in the other room. I could hear faint snatches of conversation through the closed door. "_Strange happenings. Blood on the walls. Ghostly images. Strange plants popping up. Terrible bloodcurdling screams in the middle of the night." _The list went on and on.

I shuddered at the thought of some of the things they were talking about, pretty much forgetting that Bou-san was still there. Hitari-san was saying that most of the staff at the mansion where the haunting was had already left, due to unexplainable behavior, not remembering what they had been doing for the past couple of hours, and strangest of all, nightmares. The man's shrewd voice could be heard quite clearly through the door. "- can't have my client's staff running like chickens when the things in their dreams pop into real life!"

I shuddered once more, not noticing that the monk was cataloging my every move.

_BOU-SAN'S POV-_

The petite brunette in front of me was obviously freaked by what Naru-chan and the guy in the suit were talking about. I mean, I knew that Mai had seen some pretty weird things, and at such a young age too, but this was seriously getting to her! _If Naru-chan takes this case, I am defiantly going along so that I can watch over Mai. She is like my little sister after all. _She suddenly shook her head vigorously, and strode into the other room. "Would you care for more tea?" I heard her ask. I couldn't hear their answer, but as soon as she came into the kitchen, I knew that they had said yes.

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Please review! ^.^


	3. Sleeper

I do not own Ghost Hunt.

_GENERAL POV-_

Naru ended up taking the case, despite his young assistant's obvious discomfort with the situation. They left for the estate early the next day, Mai for once actually being on time. Bou-san ended up going with them, driving his car behind Lin's van.

When they reached their destination, Mai couldn't help but be awed by it. It was beautiful, with vibrant gardens, sweeping lawns, and a multitude of fountains. The mansion itself was around four stories tall, with so many windows that you couldn't count them all even if you sat there all day and tried. But then again, more windows meant more places where people could push you to your death. Mai shuddered. For all of its beauty, it was eerie in a way. The windows were like eyes that were watching them as they got out of the van and started walking towards the front entrance.

Hitari-san was already waiting for them inside. He took them on a tour throughout the house, stopping only at the most significant places, like the attic, the kitchen, the main room, the basement, and so on.

Mai felt as if she was being watched by the house itself, as if the walls would suddenly sprout eyes or something. She felt that if she let her guard down, something very powerful might consume her, use her for its will. She suddenly felt very tired, slumping against the wall, and causing the group to stop.

"Taniyama-san, are you all right?" asked Lin. He stooped down beside her and checked her pulse. It was so fast and light that the stress might kill her if it went on much longer. Bou-san rushed forward and pressed something into Mai's hand. A protection charm.

"How long have you had that prepared?" asked Naru. Bou-san looked the young man straight in the eye, and said, "Ever since you took this case. Mai was freaking out in the kitchen when you were talking to the client about the mansion." He gestured to his surroundings. "I think that Mai might have picked up on something even before we arrived, and now it's affecting her. Naru, we have to get her out of here."

Mai however, was now sleeping peacefully, the charm tucked in her hands. Lin checked her pulse again. "It's gone back down." he stated.

Bou-san gave the sleeping girl a strange look. "She really falls asleep in the weirdest places. Although it might be because of what the house is doing to her."

At Naru's request, Lin picked Mai up in his arms and strode towards the base. When they arrived at their destination, he set her down on a couch and promptly got back to work.

_NARU'S POV-_

I'm worried about Mai… I wonder if it's normal to _this_ worried though. The way she just collapsed in that hallway. I have to admit, just for a second, that I was scared. I wonder if she'll dream one of her seemingly prophetic dreams, and if it will help with the case. I hope she will be all right…

_MAI'S POV-_

When I opened my eyes, all I saw was black space. My usual dream, but of course that would mean that he was here too. Naru, who was so much nicer in my dreams then the real Naru, who was always smiling and being nice to me. He also guides me through my dreams, helping me process the information that the dreams provide me with.

When I snapped back to reality, I noticed that he was standing beside me, watching my emotions flicker across my face. I blushed, because of course dream Naru was as gorgeous as the real deal. Although dream Naru was a lot nicer to me.

"Mai," he said, "You have to wake up now." He looked concerned. "But why? Aren't I supposed to get information on the case?" Now I was really confused. He already wanted me to wake up? Usually that part came after he had showed me something.

"Mai, if you don't get up now, you may never wake up again." What he said chilled me to the bone. Even though I really didn't want to leave, I knew from the expression on his face that he was completely serious. I waved, and then I was staring at the ceiling in the base room.

I groaned and sat up, instantly regretting the action. My throbbed with a terrible migraine. I didn't register the fact that I was falling back onto whatever I was lying on in the first place, it was as if I was watching from out of my own body. Then, all in a rush, I was back in my own head, thinking my own thoughts, and undoubtedly feeling my own headache.

Suddenly, someone handed me an icepack. I took it gratefully and pressed it to my forehead, and at the same time turning to thank whoever had given it to me. I wound up face to face with Naru.

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I know, what a terrible ending, but I was rushed! Little siblings, big distractions! Please review.


	4. Speak To Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt (though my little sis wishes that she owned Naru hehehe).

_GENERAL POV-_

Mai shrieked and jumped a little; but only just a tiny bit. Naru hadn't expected that when she turned, their faces would be so close. Just then, the door opened and Lin came in with a man they hadn't met before. Mai, and even Naru, jumped back about three feet, causing Mai to fall off the couch. All they heard from the girl was a muffled "Oomph", as she connected with the ground and tried desperately to get up again.

The man who had come in with Lin raised an eyebrow. "I hope we didn't interrupt something." he said politely.

Mai blushed fiercely and looked over at Naru in a way that she hoped was discreet, noting with irritation that his face remained as expressionless as usual. She tried to straighten her mussed up clothes. _They must have been messed up when I fell_, she thought.

"Come in Nakahari-san," Naru said, sitting in the spot that she had recently vacated. He gestured to the stop across the table and told Mai to make some tea. She huffed, but did as she was told. While they were talking, she took the time to think about the man. Was he the client? Or possibly a staff member of the mansion? She listened to their conversation in the next room, trying to determine what the situation was, when she realized that she couldn't hear Naru's voice anymore. Lin was doing a very un-Linish (totally not a word) thing and talking to the client.

Out of instinct, she turned to find Naru in the doorway, staring at her. "What are you doing, you're supposed to be making tea." he said disdainfully. She blushed, but couldn't quite find her voice. This was just like that incident in the office a couple days earlier. _Except for the fact that my hands aren't covered in hot tea, _she thought.

She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she suddenly couldn't. She tried again, but no sound came from her mouth.

"Mai, I'm waiting for an answer," said Naru impatiently, "Now." Mai turned around in a panic, cause Naru to step back slightly to avoid being bumped into. _I can't talk!_ Mai screamed in her mind. _This so isn't happening, this isn't happening, can't be happening, _she repeated over and over in her head. She clawed at her throat. There had to be something there that was preventing her from speaking.

Naru saw her going at her throat like a madwoman and thought she was possessed by something in the house. He quickly stepped behind her and grabbed her arms so that she couldn't inflict more harm on herself. Red welts were already starting to show where her nails had scraped down her neck.

She stiffened at his touch and calmed down a bit, giving him the opening he needed to get a better grip on her and attempt to drag her into the next room. He managed to get the door open when she suddenly sprang from his arms and ran to the desk on the other side of the room. He ran after her, thinking that she was going to reach for letter opener that lay in plain sight, and ignoring the strange looks that Lin and Nakahari-san were giving them.

_MAI'S POV-_

When I reached the desk, that first thing I did was grab for a pen and a piece of paper. I felt Naru grab me around my waist, and while normally I would be inventing new shades of red on my cheeks, I didn't exactly have time for that right now. I snatched up the paper and tried to escape from his grasp, but I ended up tripping instead. _Why the hell do I have to be so uncoordinated? _I thought as Naru and I fell to the floor. By this time, I had no doubt that Lin-san and the newcomer were very shocked.

I heard Naru's breath go out of him as I landed on his stomach. I winced. I was so going to pay for that one later. I twisted around so that we were face to face, except that I was practically straddling him. _Oh Gods above, _I thought, _this can't be happening. This has to my worst day ever!_

I quickly stood back up while Naru tried to catch his breath, glaring at me from the floor, and turned back to the table. The men standing on the other side of the room now came forward to help Naru up and probably restrain me if I tried anything else.

On the paper, I wrote as neatly as I could in panicked state; **I can't use my voice, there's something wrong with me. **Naru, who still hadn't composed himself much from our ungainly collapse onto the floor, scowled and said, "We know there's something wrong with you Mai, we've always known that."

I nearly lunged at him, but settled for curling my hands into fists and giving him a death glare. No one spoke for what seemed forever, and I was starting to wonder if I wasn't the only one to have lost my voice. Just as I was starting to panic even more, Lin-san spoke up.

"Taniyama-san, could you please explain what you mean?" I nodded and scribbled furiously on the paper. The end result went something like this: **I was making tea and Naru asked me something and then I couldn't talk and so I thought that there must be something on my neck that was stopping me from talking and so I tried to take it off and then Naru grabbed me and he opened the door so I ran to get some paper and I think that pretty much brings us up to speed. But I can't talk and I don't know why. It's like I'm suddenly mute or something. **

I looked at the paper in my hands. _Wow, _I thought, _that's one long note. I'm surprised I wrote that much in such a short time. _I looked up to find Lin-san looking at me with the oddest expression on his face. It almost looked like, wait a second, was that worry? Was Lin-san actually worried about me?

Naru cleared his throat, breaking me out of my reverie. "So," he said, "now all we have to do is find out why you can't speak, and why whatever is causing this is targeting you"

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I'm sorry about the ending, I know it's terrible. *cowers* Please spare me! Anyway, thanks to Moons-Chan, krisaku, and EmeraldStar-goddess for reviewing. ^-^ Don't be afraid to hold back in you're reviews, and suggesttions are welcomed. Thank you for reading! I will update soon.


	5. Hang In There

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt

_NARU'S POV_

If Mai could have screamed, I'm sure she would have. As I watched her panic stricken face, I tried to think why it could be that she couldn't talk, but there was no explanation. Finally, the exhaustion caused from the trauma seemed to start to weigh heavily on her, and she started swaying slightly from side to side.

As she started to fall, I caught her and set her on the couch.

"Is she going to be alright?" the client asked. I believe his name was Nakahari, and he was being extremely annoying at the moment. He fluttered around the room like a canary, a very brown, irritated canary. Thankfully, he ceased to 'flutter' when the door started to creak open, revealing the doll-like face of Masako Hara, an acquaintance that often helped on cases, and also enjoys blackmailing me into going on dates with her. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased to see me in such close proximity to Mai. I merely smirked at her. Maybe this information could prove useful in the future.

"Ah yes, Hara-san, thank you for being downstairs so early. I trust you slept well?" asked Nakahari-san. He then turned to us, casting a weary eye over Mai. "Hara-san has been here for a couple days, assessing the situation. She was the one to suggest that I call SPR." he explained.

Hara-san nodded slightly, hiding her face behind one of the sleeves of her kimono. "And what may I ask has happened to Taniyama-san?" she asked quietly.

"She can't speak," I responded curtly, "apparently her voice is not with her at the moment." Hara-san's eyes widened and she shook her head violently from side to side.

"I-it can't be. My dream… it's just not possible." The words that came from her mouth were a jumbled mess, but it was obvious that she was much shaken by the recent series of events.

"Hara-san, what do you mean? Your dream?" I asked, not letting the uncertainty that I felt creep onto my face, or into my voice. "Please explain."

The petite girl in front of me wavered slightly, but she kept herself steady. She took a deep breath, preparing to tell her story.

"When I first came to this house, I felt the presence of a woman, a very sad, lonely woman. She kept her distance from everyone in the household, as if she was afraid that they would hurt her. After I spent a day or so in this house, she finally realized that I could help her. She led me down what seemed like some forgotten hallways that the staff had stopped taking care of because they were falling apart in places. Though she still kept her distance, I was able to find what she wanted me to. It was a bedroom, very old, but still very beautiful. On the desk, there was a journal, but I couldn't get it open. This was yesterday that I found the book. And last night… I had a dream about Taniyama-san. I-I dreamt that she couldn't talk, because she could be so annoying and cheerful sometimes and it would be nice to have a bit of peace and quiet…" As she finished, she sat down next to Mai and sobbed a little. "I didn't think it would really happen, I swear!"

_Just what is going on in this house?_ I thought as Nakahari-san tried to comfort the crying woman. _Whatever it is, I have to figure it out or Mai might not be able to speak ever again_. I looked over at her sleeping form. I couldn't let that happen, and I wouldn't, not ever.

_MAI'S POV-_

When I opened my eyes, all I saw was darkness. _Oh no, not again._ I thought. But somehow, this time the dream was different. The space around me seemed to crackle with energy, and every time I moved, it felt as if I was walk underwater, like my limbs didn't respond to my commands fast enough. Needless to say, I was terrified.

Suddenly, as there was a film strip playing in front of me, I saw the mansion. At first it was peaceful, quiet, and lovely. But soon, something about it changed. I watched a lot of people go in. probably the staff. Then I looked at the walls of the building. They glowed a violent blood red, as if the house itself was displeased with the staff's intrusion.

The next thing I knew, I was hearing terrible things coming from the house. Screams, creaks, knocking sounds, everything imaginable that would scare someone. I was sure that it was the house itself that was doing these things. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glowing, red cloud that didn't quite move with the wind that I felt blowing over the estate. As soon as I saw it, it seemed to laugh and it rushed towards me. As it enveloped me, I could have sworn I heard it talk.

_"You will be my new victim. My, what an imagination you have…"_

My eyes snapped open. I was lying on a futon in a room I didn't recognize. I looked around groggily, and saw Naru leaning against the far wall, sleeping peacefully.

As I watched him, I couldn't help but smile. When his mouth was closed and he wasn't talking, he was quite handsome. I longed to reach out and run my hands through his already tousled hair, but I restrained myself. What would he say if he woke up?

I snapped to my senses just as the door opened and the face of Masako Hara peered in. _When did she get here?_ I wondered. She approached me cautiously, looking for all the world that she might run away like a startled rabbit if I made one wrong move.

"Mai?" she asked quietly, "Can you speak?" at first I had no idea what she was talking about, but it all came back to me. "Oh Gods…" I said, unsure of my own voice. Then I felt relieved. I could talk again! I looked to see Naru looking at me blearily with one eye open.

I beamed at him, ignoring the reproachful look that Masako sent me. She may have been sending me looks right then, but I could tell she was happy about something.

I lifted up my arms and stretched. "I'm back! I can talk again." I said happily. I got up and stretched some more. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked, knowing that Naru was probably going to reprimand me for asking him stupid questions. But he didn't answer, not one peep. I looked over and saw that he had gone back to sleep.

I tiptoed quietly out of the room with Masako trailing behind me. "How long has he been there?" I asked the silent girl standing next to me.

She shot me another one of her trademark looks, which I ignored, and said, "All night. He only went to sleep a few hours ago. He was watching you the whole time." I raised an eyebrow at the fact that there was more than a hint of jealousy in her words.

"When did you get here? I didn't even know you were coming." She smirked at my confusion. "That's because I was already here. I was called to solve this case first." With those words she walked off down the hallway, but as she neared the end, a black shape launched itself at her from the shadows.

_GENERAL POV-_

Masako's shriek was heard throughout the whole house. The black shape had landed on her back and she had stumbled into a patch of sunlight. The black shape revealed itself to be a frightened cat, which was soon claimed by one of the staff. As the mousey woman hurried away with the cat in her arms, she looked back over her shoulder, as if afraid someone was going to come after her and punish her. Relieved to see that no one was, her erratic steps slowed until she was walking calmly down the hall and towards the kitchen.

All the work being done in the mansion ceased as another terrible, blood-curdling scream came from the direction that the maid had gone in. Lin rushed towards the sound, only to find the woman lying on the floor and covered in what seemed like her own blood. However, the maid was still alive, and she didn't seem to be hurt in any way, just startled badly.

After making sure that everyone was all right, Lin checked on Naru, but the younger man was still asleep, by some miracle. Frowning, the tall man checked Naru's pulse, but nothing seemed to be wrong. It was just sleep deprivation. _He shouldn't have driven himself quite so hard, _Lin found himself thinking.

When he got back to the kitchen, there was even more blood on the floor, and the maid was nowhere to be found. Standing in the middle of the mess was none other than Mai, who was looking up with an expression of horror on her face. As soon as he had seen what she was looking at, he walked swiftly across the room and covered her eyes with one large hand.

Hanging from the ceiling from a slim electrical cord was the maid, swaying from side to side as being pushed by some invisible force. Her throat had been cut open with what looked to be a dull, bent knife, but the murder weapon was nowhere to be seen. He wished that his expertise with weapons could help him more, but that was all that he could tell.

He felt the young girl's tears on the palm of his hand as the cord that the body hung from snapped and the maid's carcass fell to the floor from twenty feet up with a sickeningly loud splat, covering them both in the blood from the floor.

_NARU'S POV-_

I was walking down a dark hallway. I knew it was a dream, but that didn't stop it from seeming real. As I neared the end, I stepped in something wet. I looked down and saw a dark, sticky substance clinging to my shoes. As my eyes followed the trail that the blood made, I could my stomach start to turn. There, lying on the floor was a girl, a little younger than I was, her light brown shoulder length hair dampened at the ends by her own blood. But the thing that scared him most about the scene was the fact that she looked so much like Mai…

He sat up straight in a cold sweat as I searched the room for Mai. There she was, standing against the wall. I had started to relax when I saw that she was covered from head to toe in blood splatters. My heart racing, I surged up from my position on the floor and ran up to her. Ignoring her surprised look, I inspected her for injuries, and finding none, I then swept her into my arms and buried my face in her hair.

"N-naru, what are you-" she began, but I cut her off before she could finish. "What happened?" I asked, frantic for a reply. "Why are you covered in blood? Are you hurt?" Mai looked at me as if she didn't recognize me. "Naru, what are you doing? I'm perfectly fine, but the maid…" as her words trailed off, I could see pain and sadness in her eyes. I hugged her even more, wanting to make the pain go away.

Suddenly, the door opened and in came Takigawa Houshou, Matzuki Ayako, and John Brown, all associates and all of them wearing expressions of surprise when they Mai in my arms. Wait, Mai? In my… suddenly the whole situation came back to me a flash, and I jumped away from the young brunette as if she were on fire. Though if she were really on fire, I would be doing my best to put the flames out.

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Sorry for not updating sooner! I had 'Adventure Days' at school, and as soon as I got home, I was out like a light and I didn't wake up till the next morning (not joking). Anyway, I'm thrilled that you guys like my story! Please keep on reveiwing! ^.-


	6. Not Myself Anymore

Disclaimer: i dont own ghost hunt at all, though i wish i were part of it (hehehe)

_GENERAL POV-_

A couple awkward hours later, during which Naru tried desperately to explain his behavior, everyone had gathered in the base. Nothing that had happened to him seemed to make sense, but they just kept on badgering him about, with the exception of an ever so silent Lin, a very startled Mai, and John, who was trying to get everyone to calm down and stop shouting. Naru felt like hitting both Ayako and Bou-san over the head for bothering him. Instead, he ordered everyone to set up cameras and take general temperatures. Hopefully that would distract them long enough for him to sort things out on his own.

The maid's body had been moved away so that the other staff wouldn't be distracted by the fact that one of their ranks was missing. Instead of telling them the truth, he merely told the staff that she had been sent out to town to get groceries. The excuse wouldn't last long though, since she obviously wouldn't be returning from 'town'.

In the main foyer, Lin was walking towards the front door, intending to retrieve a file that had been forgotten from the van. When he reached the door, it looked off somehow, out of place, and his shikigami were very nervous about it. As he reached out for the door knob, his hand hit an invisible barrier.

The barrier stood about three inches from the door, which meant that was powerful, and even he might not be able to dispel it. Keeping his calm outward look became very difficult as panic rose up inside him. He tried the window next to door. Same result. He turned and headed towards the base at a rapid pace. They were trapped.

When he entered the base, he saw that everyone had already assembled. No doubt they had discovered that they couldn't go outside while exploring the house. Naru was trying to calm everyone down, but the noise coming from the room was nearly deafening.

"Everyone, shut up," he said, raising his voice above the others, "if we can't get out, then we should research this place till the doors are accessible again." They immediately quieted at the sound of his commanding tone.

People had already begun dispersing from the room, when Bou-san walked over to Naru. "Just what was that earlier? I've never seen you show so emotion, much less towards Mai-" He stopped talking as Naru shot him an icy glare.

"I don't see what you're getting at, Takigawa. Nothing is wrong and that was only reflex. I have said that many times now. Either take my word seriously, or don't ask me about me about it at all." With that, he turned and strode away briskly. He was still wondering himself what had happened back in the room after he had woken up.

_MAI'S POV-_

The sensation of being in Naru's arms still hadn't left me. He had been so warm that it left me feeling rather chilly after he had removed his arms from around me. As I scrubbed at the blood that had splattered on my face, I thought only about him, even though I would never admit that out loud. Why had he been so worried about? It was obvious that I wasn't hurt, and usually Naru's sharp eyes would see that instantly, but he had looked really shaken about something. I shivered, a cold feeling spreading slowly across my back.

As I waited for the feeling to pass, I noticed that the room around me got colder too. _Oh no, not now, not here! _I thought desperately. I was _always_ the one targeted by ghosts. But this early in the case? Something terrible really was happening here, and I didn't blame the staff at all for wanting to run.

I rubbed my arms as the room got colder by the second. I widened my eyes as I saw frost forming on the mirror. As I stared, I thought I saw the flash of sapphire blue eyes behind me. I whipped around in shock, thinking that Naru was there, but all I saw was a shadow. It was darker than the other shadows around it, and shaped like a tall man. It reached out a hand towards my face.

"_Suukiiii…"_it said in a long drawn out whisper. I froze completely. As it touched the side of my face, I felt the coldness of frost on my skin. That's when I blacked out.

_NARU'S POV-_

Hours passed and all of the cameras had been set up. Mai still hadn't come out of her room._ I must have shocked her pretty badly_, I thought to myself. After thinking about what had happened between us, I decided that it must be because of the dream. That it was because of lack of sleep that I was so affected by it. But the girl in the dream had resembled Mai so much… and the way that her throat was slashed, so deep…

I shuddered slightly and went back to reading the temperature recordings that Lin had brought with him went he came back from setting the cameras up. My eyes were drawn to the recordings from the rooms around where Mai's room was, and before I could chide myself silently, I noticed that the temperatures were different. The closer the room was to Mai's, the colder it was, until he reached the recording for the room right next door to hers. It was almost below freezing.

I stood up and marched towards the door, panic starting to bubble up from some unknown region of heart. "Lin, we need to get to Mai's room, fast." He heard the urgency in my voice and quickly followed me. _Thank the gods that the man is fast to pick up on things_, I thought.

The door to Mai's room was unlocked, but I didn't really notice as I burst into the room. Instantly I felt chilled to the bone. It was well below freezing, and it seemed to be coming from the closed bathroom door on the other side of the room.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I approached the door. When I touched the doorknob, it felt like ice in my hands. I prayed to the gods that she wasn't in there.

The door opened with some difficulty, but stopped at a certain point and would not go any further. I slipped in through the gap I had made, Lin opting to wait outside. The cold air struck me like a blow and I nearly fell over from the sheer intensity of it.

Mai was on the floor by the sink, slight signs of blood still on her face as if she had been trying to wash it off. And leaning over her, was… me? Or at least that's the way it looked. As soon as whatever it was saw me, it disappeared.

Shrugging off the feeling that had run down my spine when it had looked at me, I rushed over to Mai's seemingly sleeping form. There was frost on her clothes and hair, and her body heat wasn't doing much other than keeping to much of it from spreading onto her skin. I took her into my arms and held her to my chest. Hopefully some of my body heat would transfer to her and warm her up slightly.

I almost smiled as I realized that this was the second time today that she had ended up in my arms. Suddenly feeling another drop in temperature, I picked her up and made my way to the door that I had come through. Now that I could actually focus, I saw that a small pile of wet towels that had frozen over completely had been the reason that the door hadn't opened all the way. I dislodged it with a sharp kick, and the door swung open.

Lin offered to take Mai, but I shook my head, knowing full well that I could manage until we got her somewhere warmer. He nodded and we both strode out of the room. I was surprised to find that Mai was lighter then she looked, but with her being so small, I guess I shouldn't have been.

The air around us got steadily warmer as we reached the base, and the frost that covered Mai was already melting, leaving the poor girl soaking wet. I walked into the room, ignoring the surprised gasps of Takigawa and Hara-san, and set Mai gently down on the couch. Lin then found a warm looking blanket and spread it over the unconscious girl so it covered her completely, except for her head.

I let out a worried sigh and sat down in the armchair beside her, still refusing to acknowledge the fact that the monk and the medium were still staring. In my mind, I smiled a bit. I was sure that Hara-san was positively overflowing with jealousy right then.

_GENERAL POV-_

There had been silence in the room for the past two and a half hours, mainly because everyone was either too shocked, or to tired to speak or do anything. Mai still hadn't woken from her slumber after the bathroom incident. Her skin had warmed greatly since then, but she still shivered in her sleep.

The staff had somehow discovered that the maid was not in fact getting groceries, but was dead. Most of the remaining maids had already hidden themselves within the depths of the house, not wanting to be the next to meet their end at the hands of whatever had killed the other maid and trapped them in the mansion.

The maids who hadn't hidden themselves were still numb with the shock of losing a friend. The SPR team felt sorry for them, being stuck in a place where someone they had worked with for who knows how long had recently died.

All of a sudden, the power in the building failed, and they were all plunged into darkness. One of the maids, who had recovered quicker than the others, sighed and went to get some candles while Bou-san opted to start a fire in the large fireplace to help keep the place warm.

About a half an hour later, they were all sitting around a big cheerful fire, though their moods were far from happy. Naru and Lin didn't show it of course, and John was trying to make the best of the situation by saying 'At least we're all together', though no one was paying him any attention. Masako was trying to snuggle up to Naru, complaining that she was feeling faint from the spiritual energies coming from the house, and Bou-san and Ayako were taking turns swatting at each other.

All in all, it wasn't a very pleasant time, and the only one who seemed to be enjoying themselves even a tiny bit was Masako, having taken advantage of the fact that her rival was still unconscious on the couch.

It was fairly peaceful though, considering that fact that no one was in immediate danger. But little did they know that deep in the house, trouble was starting to pour from a core as if it was smoke from a brush fire. The core was source, the key, and the most dangerous thing in the house. Too bad no one knew just what it was.

_MAI'S POV- _

When I opened my eyes, I saw a light blue ceiling and the sunlight that was streaming across it. The first thought that crossed my mind was that the bathroom didn't have a blue ceiling. But then it was pushed to the back of my subconscious as I sat up. I was sitting in a large bed with very plush covers. The room was very large also, a master bedroom it seemed. Briefly I wondered how I'd gotten here, but then my body started moving on its own accord.

I got out of the bed and pulled on a light pink robe. I then walked to the door and out into the hallway, where a girl around my own age was dusting some richly hued red curtains. She bowed as I passed her and I nodded in return. I made my way down past the main living quarters and into a big, extravagantly decorated dining room.

There, sitting at the table, was Naru, or at least someone who looked very much like him. He waved me over to him and I moved to sit in the chair on the other side of the table. How ever, he seemed to have other plans. As I passed him, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his lap. I felt the blood rush to my face, and wondered what shade of it was.

Suddenly, I was in a garden. No more Naru look-a-like, just me and some other guy I didn't know. At least, I don't think I did. He looked like he might have been Bou-sans brother. The thought made me crack up, bur since I didn't have control of my body, I merely laughed in my mind.

I turned serious when the man grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet rather roughly. I felt the surprised expression on my face, but it seemed like I was being pulled out of my body. The world spun as I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was looking at Naru. But this time, it was _my_ Naru, the real one who always teased me and called me an idiot. Well, almost. I was pretty sure that this was the nicer dream Naru, because we were still in the garden, and he wasn't smirking at me.

I instantly knew that he was the one who had gotten me out of the girl. I looked behind me, and saw that the man still had a hold of her. I could hear what they were saying now.

"If you don't come with me, I'll make sure that no one ever finds your body" the man snarled threateningly. The girl still tried to pull away from his grip, but she seemed to deflate. "Just don't hurt Ryou…" she said, sounding worried and frightened. The scenes kept changing after that.

It was still the garden, but it was obviously months later, because where the plants had been mostly dormant in the last scene, the flowerbeds were now over flowing with life. The girl seemed happier, and she sitting beside the man that looked like Naru. The other man was nowhere in sight.

The scene changed to a bedroom, the same I had woken up in a while ago. The girl was sitting in the middle of the room, with an arrangement of herbs, feathers, and various other things that I had no name for. She was chanting in some language that I didn't know, but I thought that Naru might. He seemed to speak just about every language that there was.

When she finished chanting, she suddenly collapsed, as if she had fainted. Her breathing seemed normal, so I went over to look at the pile of stuff she was sitting in front of.

When I looked down at it, I realized that I didn't know what any of the items were. Yeah, big help there. I turned back to where Naru had been standing, but he had vanished. Then out of nowhere everything dimmed as I fell into darkness once more.

_NARU'S POV-_

I couldn't keep my eyes from wandering over to her still form. Sometimes I almost scared myself into think that she wasn't breathing. But then I remembered that I didn't get scared. Or at least if I did, I would never show it.

My breath caught in my throat as I thought I saw her stir faintly. Mentally shaking my head, I turned back to my current task: paperwork.

I couldn't stay focused on it though. I kept wondering why Mai affected me so much. I couldn't keep her out of my head for a millisecond, except when I had other matters that to attend to that desperately needed to be done.

I managed to work somewhat peacefully until my stupid pen ran out of ink. When I turned to grab another one, Mai was sitting up on the couch, with a dazed expression on her face. Her eyes focused on me slowly, and her face contorted into a look of joy and confusion. My heart (where did that come from?) nearly leaped from my chest at that look that she gave me. Was she happy to see me?

She threw herself off the couch and wrapped her arms around me. I hesitated, then followed suit.

"Oh Ryou, I thought that I'd lost you!" she cried. Ok, now I was officially confused. What was talking about? And who was Ryou?! I felt jealously start to bubble up and quickly suppressed it. Instead, I decided to play along.

"And why would you think that?" I asked.

She looked up at me with a sad expression on her face. "I-I thought he killed you….. because of me…" With these words she promptly started soaking my shirt with her tears. I came upon my conclusion then.

Mai was possessed.

I called Hara-san in from the next room and watched as her face went red from anger and jealousy at the slightly older girl, to a concerned expression. Only a strong spirit could get her attention so fast.

Hara-san took one Mai's hands and lead her back to the couch. In truth, I missed the warmth, but I would never, ever show it.

_GENERAL POV-_

Mai looked at the smaller girl in surprise. "Are you one the new maids?" She grimaced. "Hiro was always demanding new maids, as if the old ones weren't good enough." she said. Masako looked at Naru, who shrugged, and said, "Yes, I'm one of the new maids, my name is Masako. What's your name?" The girl sitting across from smiled.

"That's such a pretty name. My name is Suki." Then she suddenly looked down at her arms and tears started to form in her eyes. "I-I can't decide whether this is my blood, o-or yours, Ryou. The hill…" She put her face in her hands and started crying.

Naru came and knelt beside her. "Suki, what happened at the hill?" he asked gently. She sniffed before looking him.

"I suppose that you don't remember, but then again, you were under the spell. I had a nightmare one night about… about dying. It wasn't supposed to work like that and if Hiro hadn't snuck into the house and drugged my food, then I wouldn't have had the nightmare and you wouldn't have tried to kill me....."

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Im sooooo aorry about not updating for so long!!! please don't kill me! (sorry 'bout the cliffie too) I hope I can make it up with a long chapter.

But seriously, i was dead! I am writing this now as a newly made ghost!!!! ok, yeah im kidding, but it's funny, right? right? ......... *cowers*

ok, i need your help with something. im think of adding a new charactor, one thats never been seen before. what do you guys think. should I go for it? TALL ME IN YOUR REVIEWS!!!!

(Please review) Arigato gozaimasu ^-^


	7. Doppleganger

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt

_MAI'S POV-_

Everything felt sluggish and out of place. I was aware, but at the same time, not. I could see Naru, I could feel myself moving, but I couldn't do anything about it. I knew that I was possessed, but this was a strong spirit that I couldn't dispel from my mind. I felt like crying, but I knew that no tears would come.

At least Naru and the others knew that I was possessed. They played along with Suki, the female ghost that was possessing me. I found it very embarrassing that she kept clinging to Naru with a death grip and wouldn't let go 'for fear of losing him again'. Meanwhile, the others were all doing their best to find out who she was and get her of me.

About and hour later, John walked over to us and pulled out his small pocket bible.

"In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God…" he began, spraying some holy water on me while Suki flinched. She was in pain, and I could feel her writhing and hear her screaming. "… _In Princpio_." He was finished. Immediately I had control over my body again.

Then I collapsed and dreamed little nonsense dreams that didn't seem harmful at the time.

_NARU'S POV-_

After Brown-san had exorcised Mai, the atmosphere had instantly turned lighter. She was safe and all of us were relieved and grateful. After the exorcism, she had fallen into a deep sleep, which was sometimes common after being possessed.

Even though the sour mood had lifted somewhat, situations in the house were getting steadily worse. Some of the staff hadn't been seem since the maid had been killed in the kitchen, and the walls had begun to ooze blood when you touched them, as if they were some kind of gigantic, morbid sponge.

Screams were heard constantly, but no one could figure out where they were coming from and the remaining staff denied having anything to do with it.

I was dozing in the base, having been reading files on the house all night. I was worried, I couldn't help it. To my left, the monitors glowed a dim blue.

I could have sworn that I only closed my eyes for a moment, but then they shot open as some terrifyingly real screaming started out in the hall. I ran out and came across Hara-san.

She didn't seem to be running out of air as she pointed down the hallway with a trembling hand. And she had good reason to be screaming.

Just down the hall, Mai was lying on her side, her throat slashed open as the maids had been. I was sure that she had been fine just second ago, as I had checked on the monitors that she had been sleeping safely in her room.

I ran towards her, but as soon as I stepped in the blood that had pooled around her, I stopped and collapsed to my knees. It was just exactly like the dream that I had had earlier. I slowly reached out to brush her hair out of her eyes one more time…

_GENERAL POV-_

As Naru reached out towards Mai, her eyes suddenly shot open. Naru, who had been surprised by the fact that she had opened her eyes when she was supposed to be dead, scrambled back a couple feet. Except that they weren't her eyes. They belonged to something else.

The pupils and irises were black, but everything else was a bloodshot red. The corpse sat up slowly and grinned at him. Mai's normally sweet smile was transformed into something twisted and evil, and while he watched, it stretched to impossible proportions. The gruesome smile now ran from one ear to the other.

The mouth opened, revealing row after row of razor sharp teeth. She suddenly launched herself towards Naru, but as he shielded himself, she passed straight through him and down into the floor.

The blood that had soaked through Naru's pant legs when he had knelt down was gone, as had the puddle on the floor. The walls however bled more than ever.

Naru stared at the stop where the apparition had been for a moment, then got up and ran as fast as he could to where Mai was.

When he got there, she was still sleeping, though it was colder than usual in the room. The cause of the chill was standing over her.

A dark shape was there, about the same height as he himself. When it looked up, he caught a familiar flash of sapphire eyes before it disappeared.

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I hope you guys like my story so far! I'm sorry that recent chapters have been so short, but I've been suffering from deprivation lately. Don't ask me to explain it, cause I won't be able to.

If you guys like this story, I recently posted another Story that I'm working on, called A Ghostly Cinderells Story. I've always loved the story of Cinderella and I wanted to put a nice twist on it. Besides, the characters from Ghost Hunt work perfectly for that story!

Until I update again (which will hopefully be soon), Have fun and Happy New Years!!!


	8. Clowning Around

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt... _(dang it!)_

_MAI'S POV-_

The first thing that popped into my mind was '_Where the hell am I?'_. I was surrounded by trees. That's when the second thing popped into my head. I was dreaming. _Figures._

It wasn't so much of forest as it was a jungle. All I could see were broad tree trunks covered in rough looking bark, leaves that seemed larger than life, vines, and the occasional bug or snake. _Eww, bugs… Eek! Snakes! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! _

Eventually, I calmed enough to remember that I was dreaming. Now I just had to figure out how to _stop_ dreaming. Either that or I'd probably just walk around until I woke up naturally. Somehow, that didn't seem like the best idea.

I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped that it would work. Sure enough, when I opened them again, I saw the ceiling of my room at the 'haunted mansion' as I called it.

Not only that, but I also saw Naru's concerned eyes looking into my own. Now there's something you don't see every day. And then his mask was back in place. I bet he's hoping that I didn't see the look on his face. _Heh heh heh…_

I yawned and sat up, causing him to move since he was leaning over me. He ended up sitting on the end of the bed.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. I nodded and yawned again. "I'm just a little tired." I replied sleepily.

Then Naru did something I never thought he would. He hugged me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. I buried my face in his chest and hugged him back. _This is too good to be true,_ I thought, breathing in his scent. He smelled faintly of the tea I always make for him and cologne that smelled really, really good. I was in heaven.

He pulled away slightly and tilted my chin up with one hand while the other still held me to him. He started to lean forward and I couldn't help but do the same. I felt his breath on my lips, which were parted slightly because somewhere along the way my breathing had become hitched.

Our lips brushed together… and then a blood curdling scream came from the next room. We shot apart and looked at each other guiltily, then ran out of the room to see where the scream had come from.

_NARU'S POV-_

My brain was still in havoc as Mai and I ran out of the room. Had I really almost just done that? I had only meant to tell not to scare me like that, but her eyes had entranced me and I ended up leaning closer and closer. _Damn her!_

The door to the next room was locked, so I kicked it open. In the middle of the room stood Matsuzaki-san, who was apparently the one who had screamed. All would have been fine if the room she was standing in hadn't had a bunch of trees in it.

The room had literally been transformed into a jungle. The ceiling had disappeared, only to be replaced with blue sky and towering trees. Some of the vines hanging from those trees were as big around as Mai's waist. Not too big, but not too small. Perfect… Damn it! What the hell is that girl doing to me?!

Matsuzaki-san screamed again as a snake slid over her foot. I looked around the door and saw that it opened into space, as if the door had appeared out of thin air. Which, judging by the red haired woman's expression, it probably had.

I looked down at Mai, who was standing beside me. She was mumbling to herself, with a strange expression on her face.

"My dream…" I heard her whisper. I didn't have a chance to ask Mai what she meant because Matsuzaki had apparently gotten over her shock. She rushed over to the door, pushed all of them out of the room, and slammed the door shut.

Lin and the others came running down the hall with expressions of shock on their faces. Well, not Lin's of course, he was even better at wearing masks than I was. Then they all at me for explanation. I opened the door to the room and looked inside. Yep, still a jungle. I gestured for them to look inside, and once they did all of their eyes widened. Even Lin's.

_GENERAL POV-_

After the jungle incident, Ayako was pretty shaken up. She jumped at every little sound and was just about ready to snap.

They had discovered that the room had reverted back to its normal appearance shortly after the event. Now all that was left was the problem of finding out where it came from and why it had happened. Not a very easy task, considering they had no clues besides a catatonic Ayako and Mai, who hadn't spoken since she had freaked out a bit in the room.

The deafening silence was broken by Bou-san, who walked into the room wearing a rather amusing costume that he was currently trying to get off. At the sight of him, Ayako screamed and ran into a corner, where she stared at him with horror in her eyes.

"That's just like the dream I had last night!!!" she cried, pointing to Bou-san's clown costume. The white and red makeup on his face was smeared from his struggles to get the offending article of clothing off of his body.

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Hi guys! I'm sooo sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I've been, ahh, distracted... Yeah, it sucks. Don't kill me? Gomenasai!!! Onegai, spare me!


	9. Fallin' For You

_LIN'S POV-_

I kept silent as the room seemed to explode with sound. Noll was still staring of into space, which doesn't happen very often. Every time it does though, it's about a certain brown haired assistant, and it's not very hard to guess what he's thinking about. I chuckled in my head. The boy had it bad.

I kept my outward face as stoic as possible, despite the amusing conditions. I figured that if someone was going to keep a cool head in this situation, it might as well be me.

Looking down at the computer that was in my lap, I started to piece together the parts of the case that weren't obscured from us. The odd phenomena in the house that was clearly supernatural, the barrier that even my shiki couldn't pass through, the subject of dreams, the possessions, the strange shadowed figure that Noll keeps seeing…

I typed all of these onto my computer and looked at it all together. Something was missing. I stood and walked over to Mai, who seemed just as spaced out as Noll did.

I was about to ask her something when one of my shiki sent me a warning. Something was coming.

I tensed as the door was flung wide open. A girl of about sixteen, with short, jaggedly cut, black hair came in, leading a pink haired woman and a collage student with glasses that gleamed mischievously. For once, I was completely dumb-struck. What were Madoka and Yasuhara-san doing here? And more importantly, how did they get in?!

_MAI'S POV-_

I think that it was Madoka's arrival that snapped me out of my daze. Or it might have been the smell of the doughnuts that she brought with her. I looked at where Lin-san stood frozen, and wondered why he didn't greet them.

That's when it came back to me. We were supposed to be trapped in the house! So how did they get in?

I sprang up and ran to the window. My hands stopped about half a foot away. The barrier was still intact. My brain went into 'off' mode. It was impossible. The only thing that saved me was Naru waving a doughnut under my nose a couple minutes later. The smell of the doughnut and the sight of his blue eyes snapped me out of it.

Blinking, I looked up at him uncertainly. My mouth opened to say something and he took the opportunity the put the doughnut into my mouth, forcing me to take a bite once I'd tasted its delicious-ness.

I could feel Masako bristling as Naru fed me the sweet confection. I was frozen in place. I couldn't understand why Naru was doing this. All of a sudden, Masako stiffened and ran over. "Someone, stop him!" she cried.

Lin-san finally seemed to snap as out his trance as Naru's eyes seemed to glaze over and he brought one of his hands up to cup my cheek. My eyes widened impossibly wide as he leaned closer and closed his eyes. He really wanted to kiss me this time! That thing that happened in the other room was embarrassing enough as it was.

Suddenly, Naru stopped and collapsed. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Lin-san standing behind Naru, supporting his weight while his fingers touched a place on his neck that knocked him out.

I looked at Lin-san. "What's going on? What happened to Naru?!" Inside, I was freaking out, but I managed to keep a calm outlook.

Lin-san looked at me seriously. "Naru has been possessed."

_NARU'S POV-_

I was in a dark place. I felt that I had been here before, but at the same time, I knew that I hadn't. I knew that I was possessed. It's really not that hard to figure out when you see the world fade and feel something take control of your body before you black out.

_Well, at least I have time to think now,_ I thought. Now the problem was what to think about. My mind wandered towards the thoughts of Mai that I kept in the back of my head. I smirked. Oh well, if it works, it works.

For what seemed like hours my mind kept going over every single feature of Mai's face that I had memorized. Then, it was almost as if I could see her. I frowned. An image in my head shouldn't be this realistic.

"Naru?" the girl asked timidly. That's when I realized that I really was seeing her in front of him. Apparently, I was no longer possessed. But they didn't know that. A maniac grin found its way to my face. Hara-san was asleep on the couch, so there wasn't really any way they could tell whether there was still a spirit possessing me.

The grin on my face grew wider. Lin wasn't in the room either. Perfect. I stood, towering over an unnerved looking Mai, who was kneeling on the floor. I pulled her up and into my arms. Breathing in the scent of her hair, I sneaked a peek at the others, who looked shocked.

The room started shaking. Whatever was here was angry, probably at me. But I didn't care, just as long as I had my Mai. As things started to fall off the shelves, I pulled Mai out of the room, unnoticed by the others as they tried to keep things from breaking. I could just imagine their faces when they realize that they had let us escape.

I pulled Mai down the halls, not really paying attention where I was going. When I thought we had gone far enough, I stopped and turned back to Mai. She had a scared expression on her face. And that's where I blacked out again.

_GENERAL POV-_

Mai stood frozen as Naru slumped against her. She saw Lin-san standing beyond the fallen boy and sighed in relief. Lin-san had come to her rescue once again.

What was going on in this house? What was wrong with Naru? Why didn't the exorcism work? She had so many questions, but she knew they wouldn't be answered right away. She looked beyond Lin and saw someone, or something, looking at them. It had the shape of a woman, but at the same time, it didn't really _feel_ like one.

She had longish hair that framed an oval face. She flickered, as if she were being projected from somewhere and wasn't actually standing there. Lin turned and whistled for his shiki.

The woman stood emotionless as something invisible tore through her, ripping her semi-transparent body apart as if it were made of paper. Her expression didn't change as she slowly faded away, as if she was just a doll that was placed there. As if she had no other purpose than to be seen and be torn apart.

The realization dawned on Mai as she stood there. "Lin! That was only a decoy!"

_AYAKO'S POV-_

CRASH! That was what I heard as I started to walk across the room. I looked at my feet to see if I would trip on something that had fallen, only to find that there was no floor under my feet.

=_=_=_=_=

When I woke up, al I saw was dust in the air and broken pieces of wood. I must have only been unconscious for a little while, which may have meant that I wasn't hurt too badly. I moved my arms and legs and discovered that I only had a few cuts and sore spots.

I stood up as best as I could amid the rubble and started looking for the others that had been in the room with me. I counted them in my head. _John, Masako, Takigawa, Yasu… _half of team had been in the room. I had a lot of work ahead of me trying to find them. I stumbled through the wreckage, looking for any sign of a limb or even a scrap of clothing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a piece of purple fabric that was covered in dust. Rushing over, I dug around in that area until I found Masako.

The girl had a cut on her forehead and was out like a light. I checked the cut to determine whether it was life threatening, but it didn't seem very bad and she was breathing steadily. I cleared a space for her and set her down.

The others weren't so easy to find. Even though Yasu had been wearing a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt, he was buried in so much rubble that I had to dig under it instead of through it. He was still conscious, so he helped me find Takigawa and John, both of whom had been in the same corner when the room had fallen in.

"Oh my! What happened here?" said a voice from the doorway. I looked up to find a girl in a maids outfit. She had a very put-out look on her face. "Oh great," she said, "now I have to clean this up too." She jumped down from the doorway and walked over, carefully stepping over any debris in her path.

Once she was close enough, I got a good view of her. With medium length brown hair and a round face, the girl gave off a cheery vibe. She was very tall, standing an inch or two over myself.

The girl helped Yasu and I to find the monk and John, all the while griping about the mess. If I were in her position, I could see how she would be upset, but right it was just annoying.

"-and you wouldn't believe the mess they made of the kitchen! I had to scrub blood out from under my fingernails for an hour! Blood!! Can you believe it?!" I resisted the urge to smack the girl on the head.

_MAI'S POV-_

Lin and I ran through the halls of the immense house, supporting Naru between us. After what had happened to the maid, we knew better then to leave him alone.

When we reached the door to the base, it was wide open and we could see the destruction inside. The whole floor had fallen in and broken boards with sharp, jagged edges were everywhere. Masako was passed out on a pile of rubble while Yasu, Ayako, and one of the maids were shifting through piles of wood and plaster to look for other people.

Lin let me support Naru on my own as he jumped down into the crater that had been the base. He walked over to a startled Ayako and pointed over at me. I felt my face flame slightly because I had no idea what they were talking about and for all I knew it could be something about Naru and- I mentally slapped myself. This was no time to think about things like that.

Together, Ayako, Yasu, Lin, the maid, and I managed to find everyone, with me directing them from the doorway. No one knew where Madoka was, but we all knew that she could probably scare away any ghost with murderous intentions.

Bou-san had managed to sprain his ankle during the fall, which resulted in him being extremely pissed off about not being able to go anywhere without assistance or makeshift crutches.

* * *

T~T I've been busy... I apologize... DON'T KILL ME!! I'LL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU IF YOU DO!!!!!!!! ..... sorry, lack of sleep! Anyway, I hope you like it so far!^^ Please review!!!!! (Or my little sister gets it!)


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